A daydreaming graduate student slips obliquely into a subconscious underworld of shifting identities in Joe Frawley's latest audio release, Ritual Research. Continuing his precedent of genre-defying sound compositions, this new work blends original piano music with found sounds and electronic processing to create protean, quasi-narrative structures. The juxtaposition of recontextualized speech samples with elements of music and sound effects results in an abstract cinema for the ear whereupon listeners are encouraged to use their own imaginations to complete the work and give it meaning.

Credits:
Joe Frawely, piano, found-sound processing, electronic effects, MIDI programming, & synthesized sounds. Music composed by Joe Frawley. Substantial musical appropriations are as follows: Hymn is an original reharmonization of the Baptist hymn tune "For the Beauty of the Earth" (Words: Folliot Pierpoint, 1864, Music: Conrad Kocher, 1838). Inquiry and Mistress of Ceremonies contain a sample created by acclivity on freesound.org, used under Creative Commons license. Profana Sacra contains a mashup of portions of Sonata for Flute Viola and Harp, by Claude Debussy; and Agnus Dei from Mass in G by Francis Poulenc.


Joe Frawley (b. July 4, 1971) is a composer, pianist and visual artist working out of Norwich, Connecticut whose works blur the boundary between music and sound art. By layering and juxtaposing original piano music with processed found sounds, field recordings, and recontextualized speech fragments, the composer creates challenging yet accessible sound assemblages bearing a hypnotic dreamlike quality. This is his fifth audio release.

For more information see:
http://www.joefrawleymusic.info

Contact:
joefrawleymusic(at)hotmail.com

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